The Hidden Tracks on Whidbey Island
Federal agents capture a British steam launch allegedly used to bypass Chinese exclusion laws by landing contraband passengers on the coast.
Port Townsend, July 25.—The British steam launch Sibyl, of Vancouver, was seized near Brush Point, Whidby Island, today, by the revenue cutter Oliver Wolcott. The launch came over from Victoria on Saturday night with thirteen contraband Chinese, who landed and made their escape in the forest before the arrival of the Wolcott. The beach was covered with Chinese tracks, and evidence of the landing was unmistakable. Two men giving the names of M. Holmes and Lewis Madden, captain and engineer, respectively, were arrested and brought here by the Wolcott. After an examination by Collector Wasson they were released. They claimed they were bound from Victoria to Texada Island, had been driven up Sound by the stress of weather, and had put in shore to obtain fresh water. The seized steamer is of about seven tons burden, in perfectly seaworthy condition, and capable of making fifteen knots an hour.
“The beach was covered with Chinese tracks, and evidence of the landing was unmistakable.”
Smuggling operations on the Puget Sound have a long history, often moving in response to strict immigration policies. This story highlights how the maritime landscape of the Salish Sea served as both a barrier and a bridge for those seeking to evade federal authorities in the 1890s.
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